The preparation of 4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-ylmethyl)-N-[4-methyl-3-(4-(pyridin-3-yl)pyrimdin-2-ylamino)phenyl]benzamide, also known as Imatinib, and its use, especially as an anti-tumour agent, are described in Example 21 of EP-A-0 564 409, which was published on 6 Oct. 1993, and in equivalent applications in numerous other countries. The compound is exemplified in these publications only in free form (not as a salt).
4-(4-Methylpiperazin-1-ylmethyl)-N-[4-methyl-3-(4-(pyridin-3-yl)pyridin-2-ylamino)phenyl]-benzamide mesylate, also known as Imatinib mesylate or STI571, the alpha and the beta crystal form thereof, as well as its pharmaceutical use are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,894,051. Imatinib mesylate is the active ingredient of the drug Gleevec® (Glivec®) which is an approved medicament for the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Another polymorph of Ima[Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box.]
tinib mesylate, the so-called H1-form, is described in WO2004/106326.
It has now been surprisingly found that under certain conditions new crystal forms of the methanesulfonate salt may be found, which are described hereinafter as F-crystal form, G-crystal form, H-crystal form, I-crystal form and K-crystal form and which forms have advantageous utilities and properties.